Sunday, July 10, 2005
No cable! Forced to read!
Thank God a bunch of magazines arrived in the mail today. After reading the jokes in Playboy I moved on to National Geographic Adventure. I'm not normally one for magazines full of hikers (I prefer to vacation in civilization) but I've been getting this for several months and each issue has at least a few good articles for my tastes. This month is no exception.
The article deals with the Genographic Project. Spencer Wells has spent ten years traveling around the world gathering DNA swabs to map out human population history. DNA is tested to look at mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosomes. So far the research has shown that the different races began diverging 30,000-50,000 years ago from east-central Africa. The project is much more than a racial timeline (anyone who doesn't realize we all came from Africa needs to go back to school). The project is studying minute differences between far-flung tribes and looking at every slight mutation to pinpoint when the mutation took place. As a history nut, I've always been intrigued by how the tracing of Indo-European word roots has helped spell out human history in the absence of written records and scarce archaeological evidence. I realized that DNA mapping would come about eventually but was not so current in the process. Now I'm thrilled to have not only etymological evidence but hardcore DNA science.
It's funny how I was just wondering about this earlier today...how I or any of us fit into the world's family tree. For around $100 (to raise funds for the project) anyone can get a DNA swabbing kit, mail it back and have his or her results matched to a geographic location. The process is anonymous. You simply check the project's website for whatever number you've been assigned. I fully intend to order a kit and send in my swab even though I know my heritage pretty well.
The article deals with the Genographic Project. Spencer Wells has spent ten years traveling around the world gathering DNA swabs to map out human population history. DNA is tested to look at mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosomes. So far the research has shown that the different races began diverging 30,000-50,000 years ago from east-central Africa. The project is much more than a racial timeline (anyone who doesn't realize we all came from Africa needs to go back to school). The project is studying minute differences between far-flung tribes and looking at every slight mutation to pinpoint when the mutation took place. As a history nut, I've always been intrigued by how the tracing of Indo-European word roots has helped spell out human history in the absence of written records and scarce archaeological evidence. I realized that DNA mapping would come about eventually but was not so current in the process. Now I'm thrilled to have not only etymological evidence but hardcore DNA science.
It's funny how I was just wondering about this earlier today...how I or any of us fit into the world's family tree. For around $100 (to raise funds for the project) anyone can get a DNA swabbing kit, mail it back and have his or her results matched to a geographic location. The process is anonymous. You simply check the project's website for whatever number you've been assigned. I fully intend to order a kit and send in my swab even though I know my heritage pretty well.
